


First Steps

by bard_linn, Kiraya



Series: Marianneverse [2]
Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Cis Female Lelouch vi Britannia, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-13
Updated: 2012-05-13
Packaged: 2017-11-05 07:39:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bard_linn/pseuds/bard_linn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraya/pseuds/Kiraya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>2009, Pendragon. Cornelia takes Lucienne under her wing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Steps

Lucienne sat in her seat by Nunnally’s bedside, staring out the window without seeing the scenery. Her thoughts were on her father and his unexpected actions.  
  
The princess had known her father only distantly until now. Her mother had spoken fondly of him, and sometimes she would observe him talking to Marianne in the parlor when she was on her way to bed. She had never imagined her father, who had been so aloof, could be so caring. Unexpectedly her throat closed and tears welled up in her eyes. She never would have known the Emperor’s kindness if she hadn’t lost her mother; somehow it didn’t seem a like a fair trade.  
  
A light knock on the door made her blink rapidly to keep her tears from falling. She coughed a bit to open up her throat. “Yes?”  
  
The door opened to reveal Cornelia. Lucienne immediately got to her feet and shallowly curtsied, as was proper for a younger princess to an older one. “Cornelia.”  
  
“Hello, Lucienne.” Cornelia closed the door behind her, coming over to Nunnally’s bedside. “Has she woken up yet?”  
  
Lucienne shook her head. The doctors were talking about things like ‘comas’ and ‘life support’ when they thought she wasn’t listening — and also ‘permanent damage.’ _You’ll show them all, won’t you, Nunnally? We’ll get through this together._  
  
“What’s the prognosis?”  
  
“They… they don’t think she’ll necessarily wake up. And even if she does, they’re not sure that she’ll be able to walk again,” Lucienne admitted, not quite able to keep her voice level.  
  
“Oh, Lucienne.” Cornelia dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her sister. “I’m so sorry. Both about Nunnally and about Lady Marianne. I wish…”  
  
“I do too,” Lucienne managed to say before her tears nearly overwhelmed her.  
  
“A princess should never cry in public.” Cornelia’s own voice was rough with emotion. “I know you feel you need to be strong and keep everything inside, but you also need a shoulder to cry on. It’s hard to be strong at nine years old… especially when you’ve just lost your mother and your sister’s been terribly hurt.” She embraced her sister. “It’s all right if you cry. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”  
  
Lucienne buried her face in her sister’s shoulder. Surely Cornelia, who had been her mother’s protege, was trustworthy. Without meaning to, she let the tears fall, trying to keep her sobs under control. Cornelia’s hands rubbed Lucienne’s back soothingly, and she said nothing as Lucienne clutched at her shirt. “I’m sorry,” Lucienne apologized as she finally let go.  
  
“Don’t be,” Cornelia replied. Lucienne was surprised to see her own cheeks were wet with tears. “Why don’t you come with me and get some lunch?”  
  
“…Will Euphie be there?” Lucienne asked after a moment’s hesitation. As much as she loved her, Lucienne didn’t want her younger sister to see her like this.  
  
“No — she’s off with her governess in the garden.” Cornelia led Lucienne away from Nunnally’s room to the parlor, where lunch had already been laid out. “His Majesty mentioned that you would like to begin to learn the combat arts.”  
  
“He said that I need to become stronger,” Lucienne replied, adding a few things to her plate. “Would you teach me? Like Mother taught you?”  
  
“Gladly.” Cornelia smiled. “I’ve seen from your games with Clovis and Schneizel that you have a tactical mind. You could probably become a good general if you wanted to.”  
  
“I don’t know what I want yet,” Lucienne admitted. “I just want to be strong enough to protect Nunnally, so this can never happen again.”  
  
“The military is the fastest way to gain power in the Empire.” Cornelia looked thoughtful. “I think you could easily become an officer, or if you have the talent, perhaps even a knight.” Lucienne felt a bit of thrill at those words. She had always admired her mother, who had risen from a commoner life to become a knight and later an empress. She could think of much worse things to aspire to. “Or you could look at politics, but that will take longer. You’re too young to be taken seriously.”  
  
“Political power won’t protect Nunnally from another assassin.”  
  
“No, it won’t.” Cornelia’s face fell. “Lucienne… I have to apologize. I was in charge of security that night.” Lucienne’s heart stopped, and she stared at her sister in shock. “Your mother asked me to remove the guard that night. If I hadn’t listened to her…”  
  
“But — that means she knew who she was meeting! It had to be someone she trusted!” Lucienne cried, rising from her seat. It must have been someone in court. She fisted her hands in anger. “Why haven’t they been caught yet?”  
  
“Lucienne, calm down,” Cornelia ordered. “Listen to me. You can’t go around accusing people of murdering your mother.”  
  
“But—!”  
  
“Your enemies are too powerful. If you do that, you’ll only endanger yourself — and Nunnally.” Lucienne went very still at that. “I am sure the Emperor will look into it. _I_ will look into it. You must not. You don’t have anywhere to start from, and if you get into trouble, you don’t have the support you need to keep yourself safe. Please, Lucienne. Trust me.”  
  
Lucienne sat back down, frowning. After a long moment, she said, “Do you swear to investigate my mother’s death and share what you learn?”  
  
“I do,” Cornelia promised. “And once we can do something about it, I promise we will. For now, finish your lunch. After that I’ll call the seamstress. We need to have some new clothes made for you.”  
  
“New clothes?”  
  
A few hours later Lucienne had a chance to see what Cornelia had meant. The outfits Cornelia had in mind were quite different from anything in Lucienne’s wardrobe. They had pants, for one thing — new for Lucienne, who’d only ever owned dresses — and were made of sturdier fabrics. Lucienne eyed the pile with distaste, and Cornelia laughed. “You’ll be working hard, and we don’t want to ruin your good clothes. Go ahead and get changed — I’ll have the rest of these sent over to your chambers.”  
  
“Shouldn’t I go check on Nunnally?” Lucienne asked as she picked up the outfit Cornelia had indicated.  
  
“The doctors will call us when she wakes up,” Cornelia replied. “Come on. Your mother has a good practice room.”  
  
Once Lucienne was suitably attired, she followed her sister to the room Marianne had used to practice in. Cornelia handed her a series of different practice blades, watching Lucienne handle them. The older princess’s frown deepened with each one. “Stop, Lucienne. I don’t think you’re ready for this.”  
  
Lucienne looked up at her, hurt. “But—”  
  
“Before we start with blade work, we really must get you some basic conditioning first.” Cornelia took the blade from Lucienne’s hands. “Run.”  
  
“…what?”  
  
“Run. Around the room. Ten laps. After that, we’ll begin strengthening exercises.” Lucienne blinked. “Well, what are you waiting for?”  
  
Lucienne quickly found herself in hell. She panted and sweated, her limbs aching as she stretched and lifted. By the time Cornelia was done with her, she could barely stand. The young princess ate some supper, took a bath, and headed straight to bed.  
  
The next morning she was so sore she could barely move. Lucienne managed to get herself to breakfast and walk down to visit her sister, where she settled in her now-customary chair. Nunnally still hadn’t woken up. Lucienne had intended to read to her, but she was so tired she was nearly falling asleep in her seat. She felt her mind blur into a strange state of unthinking, only returning to the real world when she was shaken on the shoulder. “What?”  
  
“Time for practice,” Cornelia told her.  
  
Lucienne pouted. She did not want to move. She never wanted to see a dumbbell again, either.  
  
Cornelia sat down besides her. “Lucienne, this is going to get harder before it gets easier. You’re going to get hurt, and you’re going to fail. But if you don’t try, you’ll never get any better.”  
  
Lucienne bowed her head, thinking. She remembered the first few times she had played chess with Clovis, only to lose horribly. She had never wanted to play again. Her mother hadn’t allowed it, however, telling her one only got better by learning what one did wrong so one could perform better next time. Every loss had hurt, especially when Clovis gloated about it, but in the end she had learned enough that she was able to beat him… even though she still couldn’t beat Schneizel yet.  
  
This wasn’t so different.  
  
The princess gathered her resolve and rose to her feet, trying to ignore her aching muscles. “Lead the way, Cornelia.”


End file.
